Innocence
by chiisana-ai
Summary: Loki has one friend, an Asgardian warrior gal named Lilah. The two have been inseparable pretty much since they were toddling, and when Lilah is married off to an asshat Einherjar named Felix, Loki's already miserable existence takes a turn for the worse, and Lilah is left trying to piece him back together again- pre-Thor, post-Thor/pre-Avengers, TDW, and post-TDW. Loki x OC.
1. Love Isn't Always Enough

"You aren't even trying!" The second prince of Asgard let out an annoyed sigh and slumped against the wall. "How can I get into this if you're not even _trying _to take me out?" He grumbled.

"You're not preparing to be married, you know." The young woman with chocolate locks that hung to her hips sighed, rolling her bright green eyes at him. "I can't have you accidentally hurting me."

"Are you sure, Lilah? Because that isn't want you said the other night—-" Loki received a hard slap across the face for that comment, and his skin stung where she had hit him. "Alright, that was warranted, but you know it's true."

"You are extremely aggravating, you know that?" She pulled her hair out of the braids she had them up in.

They began to spar, although they were almost equally matched with regards to wit, skill, and cunning. Both had been trained by Frigga herself, and they spent a lot of their time training together. Loki didn't actually love Lilah, but Lilah was very much in love with Loki; she was, however, being married off to someone her mother Agnes saw as less of a threat to her totalitarian rule over her daughter—- a warrior named Felix Lorson.

When they had both grown tired and had managed to accidentally injure each other by tripping on knocked over cup, they called it a day and went off in search of food. They had a snack in the palace gardens, and Loki talked Lilah into spending the night with him; it was the night before her wedding, and Loki didn't want to hand her over to someone else yet. He would never be ready for that. Lilah was his best friend besides his brother, and while he didn't think he truly loved her on a romantic level, he knew that he loved her as a friend. He also despised her soon-to-be husband, Felix, with a fiery, burning passion.

Lilah felt incredibly guilty after Loki's jab about their tryst a few evenings prior; she was used goods, which mean she was, under Asgardian law, not able to marry anyone but Loki, as he was the one who she had been with. Loki had already been married to a woman named Sigyn, but they had a falling out and she had been banished from Asgard for reasons that weren't known even to Lilah. She felt guilty about betraying her future husband, but she felt guilty that she wasn't able to stay with Loki. Not that Loki cared, she thought.

That night, they talked about what the next day would do to their friendship, how it would change things, and Loki began trying to convince her to back out of it, by bringing to light the fact that they had lain together.

"Just tell them, let it be done. I can't just let you… You don't even love him! You love me, don't you?" Loki moved his hand up Lilah's thigh and under her skirt. "After all, I've had you… He treats you poorly, more than I do, and we both know it." He made to tug her underwear down, but she smacked his hand.

"What do you want me to do? Go into my wedding, with all my family and friends and his family and friends gathered around and say _oh, by the way, I been with Prince Loki and therefore this is all for nothing_?"

"Well, it's a start."

"Loki!" Lilah was visibly upset, and Loki sighed. "Do you not understand that I _can't_ do that?! You are, technically, married to Sigyn, which puts my having been with you into an even worse light? I can't marry you, which is what would be required if I did reveal that we've been together… So, back to square one, my lovely prince; I can't say anything, even if I wanted to, which I don't."

Loki rolled his eyes.

"You're content to spend eternity married to someone you don't love and who only sees you as an object, rather than just admit you're not marriageable any longer and settle with me?"

"You sever your ties with Sigyn, officially, and we'll talk; until then, no dice."

They spent the rest of the night in silence, and Loki thought about how irritating it was that she wouldn't just give in and admit to their night together.


	2. If you're going to leave, just do it

The following morning, Lilah woke up earlier than Loki did. She did her best to sneak out of the room without disturbing him, but before she could even leave the bed, he grabbed her by the wrist and made sure she couldn't get up.

"Just a little bit longer, please." He pleaded in a hoarse whisper.

She looked at him and felt her heart drop; she enjoyed waking up to the sleepy god of mischief, but not when he was upset. She felt guilty for a great number of reasons, least of all being that little plea of Loki's. She had resolved to say nothing about her and Loki, but she didn't want to get married at all. _You sever your ties with Sigyn, officially, and we'll talk; until then, no dice_. He wasn't going to do it, he didn't love her anywhere near enough. And he had been putting it off anyway; he thought it was enough to ignore the fact that Sigyn even existed.

"Loki, I have to go…" She looked away from groggy Loki and tried to get up. He loosened his grip, but she knew he wouldn't actually let her leave.

"Please, just a little longer, Lilah…" He muttered as their fingers intertwined. "Don't go, not yet…"

"I have things to do, you know." She sighed, refusing to look at him.

She felt sickened by the way her heart sped up at the intertwining of their fingers. She felt sickened by the fact that she was so attached to Loki but should have been attached to her husband.

"I know, but… Once you get married, you'll never come back to see me again; I know you too well, so please don't try to humor me and say you will. We both know that once the day is over, you and I are going to part ways for good. And I am not ready for that yet." Loki sat up and gently tugged on her hand.

"I don't want to drag this out any longer, Loki. We need to stop this." She said as she began to play with his hair; she had always admired his pitch black hair.

"That's not true, though. You're lying." He replied, taking her other wrist and holding her back so she stopped playing with his hair. "You would have already left if you wished for this to end already."

"Shut up…" She looked over him, and he watched her with an odd expression on his face; it wasn't the usual smug one he wore when she would check him out, it was almost as if he were sad and angry. It wasn't a smug look, it was a look that gave her the impression that he felt betrayed. "I have to go."

He didn't try to stop her, and he watched her every move as she got off the bed. Every movement was painted with hesitation, regret. She paused at the chamber doors and made to look back at him, but she decided against it.

"I'll see you there, won't I?" She asked.

"Of course." He let out a sad, short laugh. "After all, I am your best friend." He was glad she hadn't looked back, he was on the verge of bursting into tears.

"Good… Good…" Her voice cracked, and she made her way out of the room. He could hear her break into a run the second she was out of the room.

He fell back onto the mattress and held his breath for a moment; then he let out an angry cry that rang through his chambers.

Lilah paused in the hallway, hearing his scream of rage. She wanted to go back, but it would have been useless; Loki was already too upset to be consoled, and she would see him again soon enough.

"Aren't you excited?" Sif ask cheerfully, standing at Lilah's side as she watched Frigga braiding Lilah's hair. "You're being wed today, and that means you'll have a husband and eventually be a mother!" She was far more excited than Lilah or Frigga were.

"Why is it that literally everyone but me is excited for this?" Lilah sighed.

"Your heart is just confused, Lai." Sif replied. "Loki is an okay guy, but Felix is… Felix is a strong warrior who has a pure heart."

"Are you insinuating my second son isn't?" Frigga said, looking at Sif with a small smile.

"I do not mean to insult Loki or you, my queen. My apologies if my words were taken as such." Sif bowed her head a little.

"If you like Felix so much, you should marry him…" Lilah muttered.

Frigga smacked her arm.

"A woman should not speak like that, especially on her wedding day."

"But I don't even _want_ to marry Felix! I want to marry Loki." Lilah sounded like an annoyed Midgardian teenager. "Felix doesn't even love me; he cares not for anyone but himself."

"I wonder what kind of lover those two are; Loki and Felix, I mean." Sif replied.

"I don't care to know about Felix…" Lilah sighed. "Though, I'm not all that curious about Loki, either, so perhaps I'm just weird."

"I bet Felix is a strong lover."

"If you're going to just sit here and annoy me, Lady Sif, you can just leave. I'm not in the mood for this." Lilah snapped.

Sif looked genuinely confused by how Lilah had reacted; she was Lilah's closest friend besides Loki, and normally Lilah had no problem with her jesting. She knew there was something major bothering Lilah, but she didn't have the heart to ask after how angry she had seemed.

"Alright, I'll stop." Sif replied, receiving a stern look from Frigga. "So, how is Loki taking this, by the way?" She changed the subject a little.

"Not well." Frigga and Lilah said in unison.

"Is that why you were with him in the training area yesterday?" Sif asked Lilah.

"Yes. He wanted to spar, and I agreed. We nearly killed each other, but he felt a little better afterwards."

"And you?"

"I feel worse with every passing second."

There was a knock on the door.

"Enter!" Frigga called.

A second later, two of the palace guards, Diuri and Domari Hægison –Lilah's older brothers- and Thor came in.

"Well, aren't you looking gorgeous?" Thor said with a sweet smile, coming to Lilah's side. "Loki is outside, he wishes to see you." He added.

"You look far too grown up, Sis." Diuri said with a grin.

"I can't believe you're already getting married." Domari sighed. "But Prince Loki is quite anxious to see you." He muttered.

"I'm finished with you, Dear." Frigga said, placing a small tiara on Lilah's head and making sure it was perfectly centered.

"Thank you, Mother…" Lilah smiled a small, sad smile, and everyone waited for her to say something more. "If you all don't mind, I'd like to be alone with Loki for a while."

"Of course." Frigga gave stern looks to the Hægison boys, her oldest son, and Sif. They promptly left the room.


	3. Is this love?

The chamber doors opened a minute later, and Lilah looked in the mirror as Loki appeared in the reflection. He looked genuinely vexed by the situation the two of them were placed in, but a grin spread across his face when he saw her braided hair and beautiful robes. He tried to push it out of his mind that she wasn't dressed for him that day, he tried to appreciate her in all her beauty even though it wasn't to please him. Loki didn't dare move closer to her, he stood by the doors; there was nothing either of them could think to say.

Lilah slowly stood up and walked up to him, tears welling up in her eyes as the distance closed between them. She was wracking her brain for something to tell him, trying to find some words to express herself and comfort him, but he simply nodded when she tried to open her mouth to say words she couldn't bear to utter. They stood with gazes locked for a long moment, and she finally found the ability to say his name; her voice cracked into a whimper on the second syllable, she broke into sobs, and he held onto her.

Loki had managed to hold back any signs of over-emotion, stifling tears, but feeling the sobs shaking her body in his arms, and hearing the quiet cries of pain, the high pitched whimpers of desperation, the feel of her clinging tightly to the front of his robes… It was far more than he was prepared for, and soon tears fell from his eyes. He could keep himself in check, unlike Lilah, but he was still greatly affected by their circumstances.

It seemed as if time had stopped temporarily, as if there was nothing beyond the quiet chamber, where the only sounds that echoed through the golden room were Lilah's misery and Loki's quiet, steady breathing. After a while, Lilah composed herself, though tears continued to fall from her eyes. She began to hum the melody to an Asgardian hymn, and she and Loki began to sway gently to the tune. Loki joined in with the harmony of the hymn, and Lilah wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest.

They stayed like that, arms wrapped lovingly around each other, for quite a while longer. All the while, there were no words exchanged; there was no need for words when physical sensations could fill voids not even the most elaborate strings of words in any language from any of the nine realms could paint over. Neither was much for talking, though Loki had a silver tongue and Lilah was quite witty. There was no time for words, only to take in the other's embrace and listen to each other's breath, taking it all in for the last time.

There would be no more moments like that.

A battle raged inside of Lilah, who continued to debate whether or not she should reveal that she and Loki had been involved in a somewhat complicated affair. It would be better to be honest than to let everyone suffer through her secret, but there was no chance of her being with Loki, and that should have seemingly made the choice all the more clear. It only made it harder to decide what course to take; either way, Lilah would be miserable, and there was no way to get around that. No matter how things played out.

Loki's hand came up Lilah's side and stopped under her chin. He tilted her face up so they were looking onto each other's eyes once more, and then he kissed her. Lilah's lips were hot, as if they were on fire, though Loki's own were much cooler, barely heated at all. They exchanged soft, sweet, pain-ridden kisses for a short while.

The chamber doors opened, and there was a gasp that could only belong to Sif, and someone cleared their throat. Lilah and Loki slowly broke their kiss, and Lilah looked to the doorway. Her soon-to-be husband Felix stood with Frigga, Thor, Sif, and Domari, with fire in his eyes. His jaw was clenched, and he looked as if he was ready to kill both of them.

Loki cleared his throat and let out a small chuckle, "Well, this is just wonderful." He said, laughing a bit and looking over at Felix. "I figured I'd give my girl a proper send off." He had a small grin on his face. He took Lilah's hand, kissed it, and bid everyone farewell; he was going to go to his chambers and sulk for the rest of eternity.

The wedding went on without any interruptions or mishaps, and Loki was nowhere to be found through both the ceremony and the feast afterwards. Lilah was trying to accept that there was no longer a _Loki and Lilah_ together, that there was just Loki, and Lilah, living in close proximity but with no contact. There was no relationship of any sort anymore, that evening had been the end of them, and all either of them had left was their memories of the centuries they had spent in each other's company.

Lilah's marriage, which hailed the end of her and Loki's time together, was one of the major factors that lead to his string of chaos. The first outward sign of that was his staging of the Jotunn invasion of Asgard during his brother's coronation several years later, and his failed extermination attempt, after which he disappeared into the darkest, cruelest parts of Yggdrasil. He had been hardened by the loss of Lilah and his family, of everything he had ever known, and there was nothing that could stop him from taking anything and everything he could; including Thor's beloved realm, Midgard.


	4. Separation Anxiety

Author note: Right, so I may or may not have been extremely sleep deprived when I wrote this, so it's definitely not my best work… Regardless, I'm putting this up and I'm putting chapter 5 up immediately after since I finished them at the same time and have just been reluctant to post. Anyway, enjoy!

At an hour when most normal people should have been asleep, Lilah was wide awake, sitting on a Midgardian rooftop and keeping an eye on Loki's base; Odin had sent Thor to retrieve Loki and the tesseract, but so far he hadn't done a very good job, and Lilah didn't want Loki to get into too much trouble.

It had been a few years since they had last seen each other; or, rather, spoken to each other. They often ran into each other at the palace, but Loki ignored her whenever she tried to interact with him. Lilah was absolutely miserable. Her husband slept with every woman he could both in Asgard and on Earth, but he wouldn't touch Lilah; she didn't mind it, she didn't want him to force himself on her anyway, but she missed Loki.

She used one of Loki's several secret passageways between the realms to get down to Midgard after Odin informed her Loki was there; she was _supposed_ to be under house arrest so she wouldn't do anything like what she had, running off to be with Loki, but she managed to shake off the guards who were coming for her and escaped.

She eventually decided to make her way down into the bunker that Loki and his new-found minions called home, and she had no trouble getting past the guards Loki had around; until she ran into Hawkeye.

As usual, Barton was up in his _hawk nest_, and he noticed her picking off the other guards with extreme ease; it was as if she was better at incapacitating them than Loki had been in the S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker before it collapsed. She was wearing dark green and black robes, much like his, and her hair had grown a bit darker as well; though, not anywhere near as dark as his.

Barton left his nest, but not without attracting Lilah's attention.

"Hey, you with the bow and arrows!" She called after him. He stopped and looked over at her. "Where is Loki?"

Barton said nothing and disappeared; it surprised Lilah that he hadn't tried to murder her on the spot, but she figured he was probably going to come back soon and try to off her. She sat down on an empty case of weapons and studied her surroundings.

_My, my, Loki; what have you gotten yourself into this time?_ She thought, sighing and noticing all the scientific equipment. She began to giggle when she realized just how far behind the other realms Midgard was with regards to technological advances. _We've had all this stuff for ages!_ She spotted Barton back in his nest and pointing an arrow at her.

"You don't need to shoot me, you know." She said, looking up. "I'm not here to tamper with your project, whatever it is, but I do wish to speak to Loki."

"And why would that be?" He asked her.

"Well, long story short, Midgardian man… Actually, before I explain that, I'd just like to say that's a neat bow you've got there. Is that arrow a grapple type or does it have a detonator end to it?"

"Both."

"Oh, that's really cool! Even if you fired it at me, though, the only thing you'd end up doing is damaging this laboratory, not me." She sighed. "Anyway, back to why I'm here; Odin let slip that Loki was down here doing something with the tesseract, and I'm genuinely curious about it so I've stopped by to visit him."

"How do you know Loki and Odin?"

"You could say I'm a _really_ old friend of Thor and Loki's; though, out of the two of them, I'm closer with Loki." She glanced off to the side, having seen Loki standing in the shadows out of the corner of her eye. "Maybe friend isn't the right word… What do you think, Loki?" She said.

"I think you need to leave." Loki replied, stepping out of the shadows. "Now."

"No, no! I've come too far to go home now." She hopped off the empty case and faced him. "My, my; your hair's grown out! You look even handsomer with the longer locks." She walked in a circle around him. "I can practically_ smell_ the rebellion on you!" She giggled. "Oh, Loki, my body aches for you…" She whispered in his ear.

"We'll have less of that." Loki said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her around so she was standing in front of him. "Agent Barton, what would you do if a woman who betrayed you, abandoned you, broke your heart, decided to show up and try to figure out your plans and get back in your good graces with utterances of how badly she wanted you?" Loki didn't take his eyes off Lilah.

"I'd probably kill her, just so she wouldn't say anything to anyone else about my plans." Barton replied; he was thoroughly confused by their interactions at this point. He didn't understand what their deal was, but he wasn't sure he wanted to understand them.

"If I am for the axe by your hand, Loki, then I am more than happy to set myself before it." Lilah said, looking into Loki's blue eyes and making sure her tone sounded as convincing as possible.

"I have things I need to do." Loki sighed. "Agent Barton, take her to my room." He looked up at Barton in the nest as he spoke, then returned his attention to Lilah. "You are to wait in my chambers, you are not to try anything or look through my things, and you are going to try and get some sleep. I can tell you haven't slept in ages." Loki said, to which Lilah nodded. "If you touch _anything_ but the bed, floor, and the wall behind the bed, I will tie you down to the bed."

"Oooh, bondage!" She laughed. "Don't worry, Loki; have I ever gone against your wishes before?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, you have." He replied as Barton descended to where they stood. "Don't touch anything." He added as Barton reached them.

Barton and Lilah walked off down a dark hallway and Loki let out a frustrated sigh; this was going to be a _long_ night.

Lilah was amazed by the state of chaos Loki's chambers were in, as he was usually meticulous about housekeeping; if she hadn't known it was his room, she'd had assumed it belonged to Thor, as he wasn't as concerned about keeping up appearances as Loki was. But the characteristic green, gold, and black accents around the room, from the sheets to the furniture, all made it plain that the rat's nest was Loki's room.

She didn't touch anything, just like Loki had asked her to, and sat on his bed, looking around and taking in everything. There was a desk stacked high with books about all sorts of things, including a book of children's tales from Asgard, she noticed the pages with stories about the Jotuns were ripped out, and she felt her heart drop into her stomach; Odin had informed her about Loki's true parentage, and she felt even worse for her part in his misery.

She thought on it for a while, about Loki being a Jotunn by birth; it didn't bother her at all, and she loved him no less than she ever had before. She felt more determined than ever to try and please him, to make up for all her shortcomings and to make up for all his perceived slights. She had loved Loki for a thousand years, and nothing would change her feelings.


	5. Acceptance

Author note: yeah, okay, so I kind of made Loki a bit -at least it seems to me- OOC because reasons (which I hope you'll see once you read it) so, sorry if I get on anyone's nerves for the OOC-ness, but I have my reasons! ((it's not _too_ out there, I don't think))

Lilah eventually dozed off, falling asleep under the emerald and black sheets on the mattress; the bedding smelled just like Loki, and that made it quite easy for her to slip into the best sleep she'd had in years. She dreamed that she and Loki were in one of their favorite spots, a hidden lake behind the palace that had a small waterfall feeding it.

The lake had the clearest blue water in all the nine realms, the surface sometimes reflected the same colors as the Bifrost in the right lighting, and it was very deep at its center. They had spent a great deal of time there as children, and they occasionally went for swims there as they got older. It was their spot, and all Lilah wanted was for them to go back to it someday.

She dreamed that they were at the lake, wading through the water, the moonlight making their pale skin glow, and that Loki clung tightly to her and told her of his affections for her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear; she knew she was dreaming, but it made dealing with current events easier by harboring a small hope that that dream might come true.

Lilah awoke to the sound of the door closing quietly, and the sound of Loki walking over to the desk with all the books on it.

"Loki…" She said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, adjusting to the dark. "Loki."

He looked over at her, his fingers on the cover of the book of children's tales.

"Did I wake you?" He asked, his voice much sweeter than it had been earlier. "Go back to sleep, Lai." He said, a small but genuine smile appearing on his face.

"Not unless you sleep with me." She said, moving the covers off the edge of the bed and patting the space next to her. "You look like you could use some sleep, too, Loki."

"I have things to do, I can't sleep."

"I'm not taking no for an answer. Get in your bed and sleep." She growled.

Loki couldn't say no to her, he knew it wouldn't end well for him if he continued to push her away, so he shrugged off his coat and draped it over the chair at the desk. He took off his tunic, tossed it off into one corner of the room, and walked to the dresser and pulled out a pair of Midgardian sleeping pants; green and black plaid pajama pants. He put those on and went to the bed, where Lilah waited for him.

As soon as he sat down on the mattress, she pulled him down onto his back and wrapped her arms around him; he wasn't going to be getting up again anytime soon.

"Loki…"

"Yes?"

"I've missed you." She kissed his neck and he let out a muffled groan of contentment. "Why did you leave me? I was worried about you…"

"I'm sorry…"

_Wait, what in Odin's name am_**_I_**_apologizing for?! She's the one who left me to get married to that oaf Felix; I bet Felix is a rotten husband. She left me, she abandoned_**_ me_**_; I didn't do that to her!_ Loki suddenly found himself trying to sort out things he never thought he'd have to give a second thought to. _She's here now, though. She came here to be with_**_me_**_, she came here to stay with me… She does love me, but something has changed about her… She's not the same woman I left on her wedding day, or even the one I ignored in the halls of the palace every day after that…_

She traced patterns across his chest, which drew out his true appearance; icy blue marks replaced his usual pale skin tone and he had half a mind to stop her from messing with his skin until she began to giggle and make bigger marks. "You're absolutely gorgeous, you know that?" She said. "The blue looks quite nice on you, by the way." She dragged her hand down the length of his upper body, making a long blue streak down his center, which showed some of his Jotunn markings.

"How are you doing that?" He asked.

"You can't tell because you're always running a bit cold, but I simply used a charm to make my skin a cooler temperature than yours so I could draw out your coloring." She nuzzled him and continued to draw patterns on his skin to show the blue markings.

Loki was extremely uncomfortable with the fact that he wasn't truly a part of his family that he was a monster that parents told their children about at night, but Lilah being so amazed with the icy blue tones of his actual self and not being afraid of him or shunning him at all made it slightly more bearable.

"Are you having fun?" He asked her as she continued to do her thing.

"I love you." She said, lifting her fingers off his skin so it could return to the usual pale tone. "I don't expect you to say it back, I don't want you to say it back, I just want you to know that I love you. Just know that, okay?"

"Alright…"

She resumed her tracing of random patterns for a while, until he grabbed her hand and made her stop.

"I was having fun, though…" She grumbled.

"Just wait a minute." He said.

Slowly his hands, starting with his fingertips, began to turn blue, and then the color slowly traveled up his arms. The color traveled up his neck to his head, down his chest and abdomen, and eventually Loki was entirely ice blue and cold. Lilah shivered a bit, and at first Loki thought it was because she was put off by it, but instead she pushed a little of the blanket between their bodies and had a look of amazement on her face. She looked into his eyes and smiled.

"Wow, nice eyes." She said before returning her attention to his chest.

She began studying all the markings, tracing them with her fingers as if she wanted to memorize them. She marveled at the drastic change in his body temperature, the frosty blue color of his skin, the frightening red eyes that had taken the place of his normal blue ones, and every little mark on his body. She knew enough about Jotuns to know that each one's markings were unique to that individual, and she thought Loki's were quite nice.

After a while of chatting, they eventually both fell asleep; in his sleep, Loki returned back to his normal self, losing the blue skin, red eyes, and Jotunn markings. Lilah's head rested on Loki's chest, their arms were wrapped around each other, and their legs intertwined under the sheets.

Loki knew he had things he had to do the following day, like his plan to get the uranium from the rich man in Stuttgart, he had to get on board the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft and carry out his plan, and Lilah couldn't be there for any of it; he wouldn't put her in that kind of danger. He resolved that he'd send her back to Asgard in the morning, even though he didn't want to let her go a second time.


	6. Intimacy is a touchy subject

The following morning, Loki didn't want to wake up. He hid his head under a pillow and let out a quiet, low-pitched growl of discontentment as he realized that he'd have to send Lilah back to Asgard soon. He didn't want her to leave, but there was no way she could stay there with him; even if she promised to stay out of the way. He pulled Lilah closer to him and she whimpered as she nuzzled her face into his chest; she wasn't ready to wake up, either.

Lilah had slept quite nicely that night; being in a bed with Loki made it much more enjoyable and comfortable to try and get some rest. She tangled one of her hands in his hair and used her other to reach for the contents of his pajama pants.

"No, not today." Loki grumbled, though he made no effort to stop her from moving her hands down into his pants. "Oh, come on…" He muttered, arching his back slightly as she began to stroke him.

"I'm not leaving, you know." She said, continuing her half-assed attempt to make him hard.

"You have to; especially if you're not even trying to do things right." He said, moving the pillow back under his head. "I could have done better myself." He added.

"Like you said, I'm not trying."

"Then why bother?"

"I just like touching you." She giggled and kissed up from his chest to his cheek. She went back down to his neck and bit him, to which he responded by involuntarily letting out a moan. She did it again and took his length in her hand as he grew harder. "Mmm… You have the sweetest moans I've ever heard from a man." She nipped his earlobe and he shoved her onto her back.

"That's enough of that." He growled, pushing her skirt up with one hand and pinning her to the bed; she still had her hand tangled in his hair and the other stroking him.

He kissed her and she quickly yanked his hair; she was trying to provoke him into being rough with her, but he had no intention of giving her that kind of gratification so early into it. It was foreplay; he had no intention of satisfying her.

He slid his hand slowly up her inner thigh until he reached her groin. He dragged his fingers across her skin and she kissed him, her hips moving upward in an involuntary gesture.

"We can do away with the clothes." She muttered, conjuring her clothes away. "Better?" She asked as he slid a single finger into her; she was already quite wet, the mere thought of Loki doing anything to her was more than enough to bring her to the edge of an orgasm.

"Much." He muttered, slowly thrusting his finger in and out. Her grip on him tightened and he tried to stifle a moan but didn't completely succeed. "Well, if you're going to be like that, then…" He slid two more fingers into her, and she let out a cry of surprise; it may or may not have also been mixed with pleasure and pain, but it was more surprising than anything else.

Loki was more than sure he'd bring her to a climax before she could finish him off, but his confidence ended up kicking him in the ass; the closer he brought her to her orgasm, the more smug and excited he felt, and that resulted in him climaxing all of a second after she did.

Lilah's back arched, which drove her hips up to meet Loki's as he withdrew his fingers from her and she let go of his shaft. Lilah let out a squeak of embarrassment as she felt his seed on her stomach. She fell back onto the mattress and let out a breathless moan of his name as he hid his face in the space between her neck and shoulder.

"Don't make me wait any longer; I've been waiting nearly four years, and it's been hell." She said quietly, running her fingers through his hair.

"As you wish, Lady Lilah." Loki said, biting down hard on her neck and using the upward thrust of her hips to position himself.

She screamed in pain from the neck bite, but the scream turned from a cry of pain to a moan of pleasure once he slid his length inside of her; in the half a second it took for that all to happen, Loki's pants had disappeared. Lilah, out of instinct, wrapped her legs around Loki and tangled both her hands in his hair as he put one hand on her hip to hold her in the same place and cradled her closer to him with his other arm. Eventually Lilah moved her hand down the back of his neck and took a vice grip on his shoulder, digging her nails in as he began to thrust more forcefully.

Loki was trying to be quiet, as they weren't alone and he wasn't in the mood to relent for the sake of casting a sound-proofing charm on the room. Lilah, on the other hand, had no qualms with anyone else hearing them; Loki was embarrassed by how loud her moans, whimpers, curses, and utterances of his name were, but the fact that he was embarrassed about it didn't make her exclamations of pleasure any less satisfying.

Several hours of vigorous love-making later, Loki's back was marred with hundreds of scratch marks, some of which had broken the skin, and Lilah's body was bruised from Loki's almost bone-crushingly hard grasp on various parts of her. Her neck and breasts were covered in bite marks and light bruising.

Neither of them had the strength to get out of bed, and Loki was sure he had made it impossible for Lilah to be capable of walking; she was going to stay until she had recovered from their tryst.

Just one more day, he told himself; _just one more day._


	7. Should I stay or should I go?

Loki had to get rid of Lilah. He had to get on with his plan to conquer Midgard, and Selvig had informed him he needed iridium to stabilize the tesseract; the iridium could be found in Stuttgart, Germany, so Loki knew he'd have to go there. Lilah couldn't stick around, he wouldn't be back in the bunker they were currently in again, not if his plan went the way he hoped it was going to.

"You're going to have to leave." Loki said as they lied in his bed together, having just recovered from another bout of love-making. "Today. I can't put it off any longer." He added.

"Please don't make me go, Loki." She muttered, repeating what she had done two days earlier and tracing her fingers across his skin to draw out his Jotunn markings. "I'll follow you wherever you go, I'll make sure no one sees me; don't make me go back to that horrible place." She said, almost in a whimper.

He knew she wouldn't even attempt to understand his reasons for making her leave unless he explained his plans in detail, so he began to tell her just what it was he was up to. She listened to his plan without chiming in about any of it, without objecting to it, and she realized why he was doing it; he wanted validation, to feel powerful and needed, to feel like he was important. He needed it, and she knew she couldn't give him that feeling. She understood why Loki was pleading with her to go home, and she didn't object when he said, for the tenth time, that she had to leave.

She went with Loki to Stuttgart and waited as he and Barton prepared for their evening. She had picked Loki's outfit herself, fussing over him and making sure he looked as much like a rich Midgardian as possible instead of his usual princely, Asgardian self.

"You really don't have to be so attentive to my wardrobe." Loki grumbled as she adjusted the collar of his buttoned shirt.

"No, no. I do." She said. "I fussed over you on your wedding day, I will fuss over you now."

"These are two entirely different things, Lilah."

"No one will respect a frumpy looking king, Loki." She said, picking a tie off the bed he was sitting on and starting to tie it. "Mmm... Is that too tight?"

"Not at all." He said, putting his hands on her hips as she stood in front of him and fussed with the tie a bit more. "You know what I could use that is a little tight?"

"You're already almost all the way dressed, we're not going to bed. You've got places to be and things to do." She yanked the tie and he let out a growl when it tightened around his neck. After a second, she loosened it a bit and went back to making sure it looked perfect.

"You didn't need to try and strangle me to get the point across." He used one hand to rub his throat. "Do I look good in these Midgardian clothes?"

"Of course you do." She brushed his hair behind his ears and smiled a small, sweet smile. "You're always handsome, Loki... But I almost like you in this outfit more than your standard attire." She looked him up and down. "Alright, now for your coat and scarf."

"A scarf?"

"It's cold, we're in Germany."

She pulled a green and gold scarf off the bed and put it on him, making sure the ends were even. She made him stand up and continued to fuss with the tie and scarf before going to the coat rack by the door and grabbing his coat. She helped him put it on and continued to adjust the scarf and the tie.

"When do I get to see myself in a mirror?" He asked. "I don't even know what I look like." He added.

"Who needs a mirror? Your an Asgardian, you're one of the best magic users in all the nine realms; you could just as easily make a clone."

"Right..." He muttered, a clone appearing at his side a second later. He looked at the copy of himself and made a face in approval. "Not bad. Perhaps you should dress me more often."

"I would, if you'd let me. Though, in all honesty, I almost prefer undressing you more; and that's saying something, given that I greatly enjoy dressing you." She giggled. "Satisfied?" She asked.

"Oh, yes." He grinned, pulling her hard up against him. "You are extraordinary, Lilah." The clone disappeared with a wave of his hand.

"I'm well aware of it." She said, playing with his hair. "If nothing else, please keep yourself from being killed." She added, looking into his eyes.

He could see she was worried, he knew she was afraid for him, but he figured he wouldn't be beat and that she was needlessly worrying; he was going to conquer Earth and rule the humans as a god, and she would be his queen. He had made his mind up about that, that she would be his. And the two days they had spent in each other's company was what he had needed to realize that he possibly returned her affections for him, though he wanted to deny it. He couldn't hate her, and he failed to understand how he had gotten anywhere without her at his side, as she had been responsible for many of his greatest moments... And for dressing him them for those great moments.

They shared a kiss, and she left to find one of the passageways back to Asgard, leaving Loki to go with Barton to get the iridium that Selvig needed. When she returned to Asgard, Lilah was greeted by einherjar at her chamber doors.


	8. Questioning

The einherjar, including her two brothers Diuri and Domari, put her in chains and brought her to Odin in the Hall of Asgard. She didn't object as they shackled her wrists and ankles, though she calculated the odds of besting all of them and heading back down to Earth to be with Loki again; the odds weren't favorable, but it could be managed. As they walked from her chambers to the Hall of Asgard, Diuri and Domari watched their younger sister anxiously. They had no idea where she had been, and they had been acting as damage-control along with Frigga to try and limit Odin's anger with her.

It seemed more like she was leading the einherjar who had chained her to the hall than the other way around; she walked with her head held high and her steps unfaltering as they approached the hall. She had no reason to be afraid, to feel ashamed, as much as everyone else would have liked her to. The doors to the Hall of Asgard opened, and suddenly it sunk in that she was up shit creek without a paddle. She spotted Frigga standing at the bottom of the steps to the throne as Odin sat atop his golden throne with Gungnir in his hand. He looked irate, and Lilah knew something bad was going to happen.

"Lilah…" Frigga said quietly, a worried, sad expression on her face.

"Hello, Mother." Lilah said, grinning a little. "Miss me much?" She asked.

"Please don't make this worse." Frigga said, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Define worse." Lilah replied, looking up at Odin. "Am I for the axe? Because, if so, I'm more than happy to submit myself to it. Loki is no longer here, therefore I have no reason to live." She said, their gazes meeting.

"Unchain her." Odin said.

"But, my king—"

"Now." Odin looked down at one of the einherjar.

They removed her chains and she rubbed her wrists; she finally understood why the prisoners they took always complained about their wrists hurting. She hadn't expected the chains to be so heavy. She didn't take her eyes off Odin as he dismissed the einherjar, examining every wrinkle of his face and every tiny shift in his body language. He wasn't happy, there was no doubt about that, but he wasn't so enraged that he'd have her put to death.

"You disobeyed my orders _and_ traveled to another realm without my permission." Odin began as the einherjar left the room. "Am I correct to assume you went looking for Loki?" Lilah nodded. "And did you find him?" She shook her head. "What reason do I have to believe you?"

"None at all." Lilah smiled a little. "But, if I _had_ found Loki, I would have brought him back with me." She glanced over at Frigga. "Do you believe me, Mother?" She asked.

Frigga made to speak but Odin held his hand up, causing her to stay silent.

"Frigga and I have talked about what to do with you, Lilah. Your behavior in recent months has been much like Loki's own—"

"I'd say that's probably because I've spent my entire life with him; a thousand years." Lilah said, shrugging.

"And you will never see him again, should Thor succeed in bringing him back alive!" Odin's voice echoed loudly through the hall. "You're blinded by your affections for him, and it will ruin you!"

"I really don't see what all the fuss is about." Lilah sighed. "Loki is your son, and whatever he is planning down there is clearly just an attempt to prove something to you." She said.

"I was informed by Lady Sif that your husband has been unfaithful." Odin said, changing the subject; he looked somewhat pained by Lilah's words.

"It took you that long to catch on?" She asked. "And yes, he has been. He has been since before we were married, and he has been ever since. I wouldn't be surprised if he had lain with a hundred women in my short leave of absence from our realm." She said.

"Do you wish to end your marriage?" Odin asked.

"Of course. I never wanted to marry Felix in the first place." Lilah sighed. "It is universal knowledge that the only man I have ever had eyes for was Loki. Even so, I was forced to marry a rather unskilled einherjar who cares not for anyone but himself, and who has probably slept with almost every woman in this realm. He's abusive, he lies, he's an adulterer, and he goes against every basic moral principle there is, yet holds me to unachievable standards for all sort of things. I would rather be executed than stay married to him, if it came to that."

Two days later, Lilah and Felix's marriage was annulled, and she was allowed to move into Loki's chambers in the palace; around the same time, Loki was on the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft in his glass cell, taunting the Avengers and getting ready for bringing his army of Chitauri to New York.


	9. In chains

Loki stood with Thor, his wrists shackled and a muzzle covering his mouth. He had one hand on the tesseract's holder, while Thor has his hand on the other end of it. Thor gave a parting glance to his team, the Avengers, and then twisted the handle of the container the tesseract was in. It took all of a minute for them to go from Central Park to Asgard.

Loki's thoughts wandered to Lilah; he had told her his plans, and he wondered if she had kept them to herself. He wondered if she would be upset with him for failing in his quest for dominion over the human race. He and Thor walked into the palace together to meet with the group of einherjar who had been assembled to shackle him and take him to Odin for his sentencing; by this point, Thor had completely given up on Loki, and he had no desire to listen to him speak, making him grateful for the muzzle that currently sat over his mouth.

Thor looked over the ten einherjar who had been summoned to take Loki from him, Diuri and Domari Hægison, Felix Lorson, Lor Åkeson, Kalle Bjornson, Val Nifrson, Jürgen Nifrson, Kas Iddunson, Bjorn Iddunson, and Kris Lofrson, and felt a wave of guilt wash over him; sure enough, Diuri and Domari would tell Lilah of Loki's imprisonment, and she would fall into a depression far greater than the one she had been in after he disappeared. He felt personally responsible for how she would feel, as he had not been able to save Loki for her.

"None of you are to mention this to Lady Lilah; understood?" All ten nodded, and Loki shot him a glare; he was still muzzled as they changed the sets of chains on him, so he couldn't verbally object. Thor met the glare and felt his heart sink; Loki wanted Lilah to know, and the vow of silence he was forcing upon the einherjar was not going to be enough to keep them quiet. Loki was irritated, he had been beaten and humiliated, and his own brother wanted to keep him in the shadows. "I'll leave you to it." He added, looking away from Loki and leaving the room they were in.

Domari took the muzzle off of Loki and sighed, "Good going, Loki. Now Lilah will be even more upset than if you were to have died in battle."

"Oh, shut it." Loki growled; Loki felt far more humiliated than he had even a minute prior.

"You tried to take over a planet, Loki. And you failed, and you killed people; Lilah will not be happy with you." Diuri said, locking the shackles on his wrists.

"You think I don't know that?" Loki snarled. "Enough of this; as much as I'd love to humor you by allowing you to humiliate me, I'd rather you saved it for later."

"She's moved into your chambers, you know…" Domari muttered, his voice so quiet that only Loki could hear it; and even then, Loki had a hard time hearing it.

"What?" Loki looked at him. "What for?"

"Our marriage was annulled, and she was allowed to move back into the palace." Felix said as he leaned up against a pillar. "Congratulations, you've got your girlfriend back. Unfortunately for the two of you, you're going to be executed." He smile spread across his face.

"Oh well." Loki sighed, pretending he wasn't bothered by Felix's words. "I'll see you in hell, Lorson." He added, a smirk on his face as he met Felix's mocking eyes.

Odin had spared Loki the axe, though only because Frigga had asked him to. That's what he had said, anyway; Loki thought it more likely was to make him have to sit and think about what he had done for the rest of his life, to rot in chains for eternity, like an eternal time-out.

Loki stood and waited for Diuri and Domari to unchain him; as they unchained him, since the other guards had left, they began to chat.

"Lilah will not be pleased, Loki." Diuri said as he took the chain from his waist and made it disappear.

"Well, neither is anyone else besides that rat Felix." Loki replied. "I don't care about the other ones, just get these damn things off my wrists." He snarled at Domari, who rolled his eyes but obliged and took the shackles off of his wrists. "Did she tell you she came to me down there?" There was silence. "Shit; the one time I tell her to not say anything and she actually does it…"

"You do realize she has never once told anything to anyone, and that any knowledge of anything came from people eavesdropping on your conversations, right?" Diuri said. "Our sister loves you more than anything, and she would never betray your trust. She just took the fall for things because she didn't want you to hurt anyone else." He added.

"How is she, though?" Loki asked, suddenly feeling the effects of his sentence as the last of his physical chains were removed. "Does she know yet?"

"I assume your brother has gone to tell her, or perhaps your mother has told her." Domari said, leaning against the back wall.

They heard shouting from outside, and all three walked to the front of the cell and looked up the hall towards the entrance; the other side seemed to be where the noise was coming from.


	10. Actions and reactions

The dungeon doors burst open and the men spotted Lilah walking down the path to Loki's cell, Fandral and Sif not far behind. Loki almost didn't believe it was Lilah marching towards his cell, but she got closer and the expression of anger on her face was one he had seen far too many times; though, that was the first time he had caused that expression to be there.

"Loki!" She shouted angrily, walking up in front of the cells. "Diuri, Domari, open the cell door or so help me I will murder all three of you!" She looked like she could actually be serious, so her brothers didn't hesitate to let her in.

"Lilah!" Sif and Fandral called as they just barely missed being able to pull her away from the cell. She was already inside.

"You two, out." Lilah barked, glaring at her brothers. They nodded and made a hasty retreat. She cast a sound-proofing charm and looked at Loki. She looked him up and down, and she sighed. "I was worried sick!" She shouted at him.

"Well, I'm not dead." He said, to which she drew a dagger from her sleeve and made like she was going to attack him. He raised his hands out in front of himself in surrender, looking slightly intimidated by her. "Okay, I guess this isn't the time to be joking." He muttered. "Please don't stab me." He added.

She conjured the dagger away and watched him closely as he slowly put his hands down at his sides again. He smiled slightly and she shook her head; she was beyond angry with him. She began to pace around in silence, clearly on the verge of tears. It reminded him of her wedding day, except that day in the dungeons was far worse than that other day.

"You… You disappear for a year, then you turn up on Earth, and now you're back but you're sentenced to an eternity here!" She said, her voice cracking and tears forcing themselves from her eyes. She ran her hands through her hair and bit her lip.

"I'm sorry—"

"Sorry doesn't mean a _damn_ thing when you say it, Loki!" She snapped, ceasing her pacing and look at him. "You're _sorry_ that I have to spend the rest of my life visiting you from the other side of a glass cage?! You're _sorry_ that I will never be able to fall asleep in your arms again?! You're _sorry_ that your actions have permanently separated us?! You're not sorry about anything, the only thing you care about is… You don't even care about yourself! There is literally nothing you care about, damn it!" She covered her mouth with her hand after a pause and continued to cry. "I hate you _so_ much right now!" She said as he took two cautious steps toward her.

He continued to slowly get closer to him, making sure she wasn't preparing to stab him, or slap him, or kick him in the groin.

"I care about many things; on that list of things, the top two positions are occupied by you and Mother." He said.

At his words, Lilah began to sob uncontrollably and fell to her knees. She let out a deafening shriek of pain and rage, which could be heard even outside of the cell.

Sif felt sick watching her friend silently rage at Loki, she couldn't understand why Lilah had been so tolerant of Loki over the centuries and why she would even want to visit him after all the evil things he had done. She felt horrible for her friend, but she also felt like Lilah had brought that misery upon herself by continuing to be at Loki's side.

Fandral knew that Loki and Lilah were inseparable and that Thor telling her of Loki's imprisonment would probably cause her to go insane; he understood why and, unlike Sif, he felt bad for the two of them. Fandral was, after Thor and Loki, the male closest to Lilah, and she had asked him for advice after discovering what Felix had been up to. He also, to some degree, harbored affection for her, and seeing her upset was something he didn't enjoy.

Diuri had never been a huge fan of Loki, but he knew Loki was the only person who made Lilah genuinely happy, so he put up with him. It was he and Domari's duty to guard Prince Loki, and over the centuries they had reached a somewhat mutual understanding. Unlike most of the other einherjar and servants in the palace, Loki didn't treat the twins like they were beneath him; they were as close to friends as Loki was going to get besides the Warriors Three, Thor, Sif, and Lilah. Loki was exceptionally polite to the palace servants, einherjar, and common folk, but he always knew he was in a higher position than them; he didn't have that air about him when it came to the twins, though.

Domari watched as Lilah was shouting at Loki; he had no desire to know what she was saying, knowing she was probably tearing into him about how he'd completely abandoned her. He looked over at the other three next to him and evaluated their expressions; whatever it was Lilah wanted to say to Loki, she didn't want them hearing it, but she didn't mind them seeing it.

Then it happened.

When Lilah fell to her knees and that horrible shriek of grief rang through the dungeons, made all four of them feel sick to their stomachs and like their own hearts were breaking. They knew she had put a sound-proofing spell on the cell, so it must have been extremely loud to have broken through that. Sif ran out of the dungeon, she couldn't stand there and listen to Lilah's screaming. Fandral shook his head and followed after Sif, while the twins lingered for a moment longer.

Loki looked up from Lilah and looked to the twins, nodded stiffly to dismiss them, then returned his gaze to Lilah; the twins left after that.

"Lilah…" Loki knelt down in front of her and outstretched his hand, gently grazing the side of her arm.

She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder. She grabbed at his clothing and held on tightly, as if she were going to die of she let go of him, and she let out a whimper as he wrapped his arms around her. She cried out his name, her voice being muted by his shoulder, as he pulled her closer to him.

He changed his position so he was sitting on the ground and pulled her up onto his lap while she continued to cry and repeat his name. Every shake of her body, ever whimper, every staggered breath, every muffled repetition of his name tore into his heart, which he thought had calcified, and made him regret what he had done.

"I love you…" Loki muttered when she finally began to calm down; it was more like she had no tears left to shed and she had lost her voice. She looked up at him and bit her lip. He smiled a little, and she noticed that he had been crying too. "I love you." He sounded more sure of himself the second time he said it, and she smiled a small, sad smile.

"I love you more." She said, her voice hoarse. She took his face in her hands and planting a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you more than you will ever know." She muttered, kissing him again.

It was just like her wedding day; they were saying goodbye for the last time.


	11. Of love and other things

Lilah sat in one of the tall, ancient trees by the lake she and Loki had spent many hours at; the stars lit up the dark sky, the clouds occasionally passed over the moon, and the reflection of the sky on the surface of the lake made Lilah think about just how large Yggdrasil was.

In some other part of the world tree, there was bound to be another woman lamenting her situation while sitting someplace beautiful. Somewhere out there, there was another woman thinking of a lost love, or someone reminiscing, or someone kissing their lover. There was someone unable to sleep, restless and mind racing at a million miles per hour. Even when all others in the realms were asleep, there were always those people who couldn't sleep, those who were up in the middle of the night doing things.

She heard a branch bending behind her, and she looked over her shoulder; she was greeted with Lady Sif coming to sitting on the thick branch with her.

"Do you always visit your places like this?" Sif asked as she sat down.

"When I can't sleep, yes." Lilah looked back at the stars. "Granted, that is now the majority of the time, but even so… It's the only way I can find any peace, now that I've been banned from going into the dungeons."

"Why would you even want to see him after all he's done?"

"Why do you still long for Thor's affections when it's clear he's chosen the Midgardian woman Jane?"

The reply had caught Sif off guard, and she felt a feeling of resentment well up inside of her.

"The same could be said for you with Loki; after all, he chose Sigyn over you the first time."

"No." Lilah had a small smile on her face as a comet shot across the sky. "The difference between our men is that Thor truly loves his Jane, and Loki did not love Sigyn. She was a means to an end for him, and he cast her aside once he was finished with her. Thor, on the other hand, loves his mortal. He will go through anything to keep her safe, and he cherishes her."

"Are you insinuating he does not feel that way about me?" Sif asked, feeling her heart aching at what Lilah had just put out; she knew it was true.

"No. Thor has always been attracted to you, and besides Mother and I, you're the female closest to him. We've been together for over a thousand years, Sif; you and Thor, Loki and I. No one will ever replace either of us to them. Thor cares greatly for you, but his Midgardian takes priority for now. That may change in the future, but that is the way it is now. I am neither suggesting he cares not for you or that he secretly has a torch burning for you; I'm merely stating that Thor, unlike Loki, picked a woman he truly cares about." Lilah looked over at Sif and noticed the pained expression on her face,

"Though, to be honest with you… I prefer you over that mortal; I'd like to see her go into battle countless times and come out alive every time. I'd like to see her be as devoted to everyone else she knows as she is to Thor. I have not met her, though Thor has asked me to pay her a visit tomorrow morning, but even so… I think you are a better woman." She giggled. "I might be biased, though; we have been friends for over a thousand years, after all."

She took Sif's hand and squeezed it gently.

"How are you able to be so kind to others? How can you be so loving?" Sif asked, squeezing Lilah's hand.

"I've lived with Loki… You can thank Loki for my forgiving and loving nature." The two of them looked down at the surface of the lake.

"How so? Tell me your secrets; I want to learn to be as accepting and caring, as forgiving and loving as you."

"Loving someone like Loki is a ride that never ends. One second you hate him, the next you love him; it takes an incredible amount of mental and emotional energy to maintain any sort of positive relationship with him. But, even with that being the case, Loki has always been a good friend to me." Lilah paused when Sif muttered a sarcastic remark. "Loki once told me something simple, while sitting in this very tree, about being in love. For all his imbalance and ruthlessness, all his disregard for how his actions will reflect upon those closest to him, he understands love and all its intricacies more than any other being I have ever met."

"Do explain how that could _possibly_ be the case." Sif laughed, but her laughter ceased when Lilah looked over at her with a peeved expression upon her face. "Sorry, go on."

"We were sitting on this branch; Loki was sitting to my left, closer to the end of the branch… I was angry with him; we had gotten into a fight about his _lack of regard_ for his own life, for valuing my life more than his own… It was after our first battle. I was upset that he had thrown himself into harm's way to protect me, and he was angry with me for not appreciating his nearly dying to stop one of those marauders from slicing my head clean off."

"I do remember you yelling at him after we returned from the battle."

"We were yelling at each other, and I said _why would you even risk your life for me? You could have easily gotten away and avoided that cut on your arm!_ He just looked at me for a second, he wasn't angry anymore. He laughed and smiled at me after a moment of just watching me, looking into my eyes."

"Loki doesn't do that sort of "

"You don't know him like I do." Lilah sighed and continued with her story. "He laughed and he smiled, and then he said _you're such an idiot_. And at first, I thought he was insulting my intelligence, and I got mad and tried to object, but he stopped me by saying something I hadn't been expecting…"

"And that was?"

"_When you're in love with someone, they come first. You're so stupid, getting mad at me for caring about you. Everything would be pointless and boring without you; well, maybe not pointless, but it sure as hell wouldn't be as great. A world without you would be the worst things ever, and I never want that._" Lilah was smiling to herself; she had her eyes closed, and she had transported herself back to that day. "I didn't know what to make of it at the time. I suppose, in retrospect, that could have been considered a confession of love… Do you think so, Sif?"

Sif looked at the smile Lilah had on her face, with her eyes closed, her cheeks colored a light pink that was barely visible under the moonlight.

"Yes, I do." Sif said. "How long have you loved Loki? I know it has been centuries, but do you know how many?"

"Loki and I have been inseparable since we were learning to walk and talk; I suppose, in its own way, that could be considered love. I've always cared greatly for him, since he was my best friend. Thor is my brother, and I love him too, but with Loki it was different, even when we were little. There was something about him that made me gravitate toward him… As we grew older, I began to develop feelings for him… I suppose the point where I realized I was in love with him was that day, sitting on this branch and hearing him say _a world without you would be the worst thing ever, and I never want that_."

Sif couldn't help but smile. Sif asked Lilah more about her relationship with Loki, and Lilah began to tell her stories about things she never knew had happened, and it seemed to explain quite a bit about Lilah's personality, her behavior, and why she had never given up on Loki. Even with him in the dungeons, she held onto some hope that someday he'd be released, or she'd be allowed to visit him.

Sif had a newfound appreciation for her friend, listening to how happily she talked about the countless adventures the two had been on, all the silly things they got into, the late nights spent stargazing, getting into trouble in the palace as children… It made her realize that Lilah wasn't an idiot for loving Loki despite all the horrible things he had done.

To Lilah, Loki wasn't the big bad who had tried to exterminate the Jotuns and conquer the human race: he was just her best friend who had made some _extremely_ poor choices.

When Sif thought about it like that, she couldn't be upset with Lilah for loving Loki, but she could continue to be upset with Loki for being an ass and causing Lilah pain through his actions.


	12. When can I see you again?

"Lilah, this is Jane Foster." Thor watched Lilah as he introduced his girlfriend to her; he knew romance was a touchy subject with Lilah, especially after Loki's imprisonment. "Jane, this is Lady Lilah. She's my younger sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister." Jane looked slightly confused.

"Adopted."

"Like Loki?"

The look of pain on Lilah's face made both Thor and Jane feel bad, though only Thor knew why the mention of Loki had upset her.

"Yeah, yeah. Like Loki… Except not a Jotunn and plotting to take over your planet." Lilah replied, recovering a moment later. "It's nice to meet you, Jane." She smiled a little and looked to Thor. "Thor tells me you're an astrophysicist."

"Y-Yeah." Jane looked to Thor. "You talk about me with your sister?"

"She's very interested in Midgard and its people; she also pesters me about things."

"I don't pester, I ask questions. And I really do like Midgardian people, even if your technology is really far behind ours. I sometimes like to go down and see how the human race is doing." Lilah was smiling, and so was Thor; he was glad Lilah was being so talkative. It was the most he had heard her say in one bit for a long time. "Anyways, I'm sure you've both got better things to do than hang around talking to me all day, so I think I'll head to the dungeons."

"The dungeons?" Thor asked. "I thought you were banned from there."

"I am, but when has that ever stopped me from doing anything before?" She grinned at him. "Of all the habits I've picked up from your brother, the lack of regard for the rules is probably my favorite double-edged sword."

Then she disappeared, leaving Thor and Jane to discuss their brief meeting.

"She's weird. I like her." Jane said, looking up at Thor. "But… Why did she say _your brother_ if she's your adopted sister?"

"It's complicated." Thor said, taking her by the hand and starting to walk them toward the garden.

"I want to know." Jane said. "I mean, you don't have to tell me, but it just seems… Weird."

"Even to her friends and family, it's a little confusing." Thor chuckled. "Lady Lilah is Loki's closest friend and his lover."

"Lover?!" Jane stopped dead in her tracks and gave Thor a confused and disgusted look.

"Like I said, it's complicated." Thor said as they reached the garden.

Lilah had a different plan for going to visit Loki; she wouldn't try to bribe Felix and Kalle, she was going to get herself arrested and thrown in the dungeons; the only open cell was the one directly across from Loki's, and she knew she would have to do something horrible to get put down there, else she'd be put on house arrest and locked in her chambers for a while. That wasn't what she wanted, so she decided she was going to try and kill Felix.

It wasn't so much that she actually wanted him dead, though she had a considerable amount of resentment directed at him, as it was that she just needed a crime sufficient enough to have her locked in the lone cell.

She stopped by the dungeons first, to see if he was there, and she went to find him when she saw that he wasn't currently on duty; Kalle was, though, and he said Felix was due to come on any minute.

Lilah found Felix chatting a young woman up not far away, boasting about how he kept watch on the prisoners; he didn't. Kalle and Felix were in charge of guarding the entrance to the dungeon; Diuri and Domari were in charge of watching Loki, and various other einherjar were in charge of checking up on the rest of the prisoners. Felix was also really bad at his job; he often times made it so only Kalle was standing guard, going off for mid-day trysts and drinking.

"I thought you were supposed to be at work." Lilah said, catching the attention of Felix and the young woman; the young woman was Agata, one of the palace healers.

"Don't you have better things to do, now that you're no longer married to me?" Felix asked, rolling his eyes at her. "Maybe, you know, visiting Loki?" Lilah's jaw clenched and Felix laughed. "Oh, that's right! You're banned from going into the dungeons!"

In less than five seconds, Lilah had gone from standing a foot away from Felix to slicing the arteries in both legs and continuing on her way as if she hadn't just critically injured him. Agata let out a horrified scream, at which point several einherjar came running over to see what happened; but by the time they reached Felix, who was profusely bleeding from both legs, and Agata, Lilah had disappeared. There was an APB issued for Lilah, and almost every soldier in the city was tasked with looking for her; including Diuri and Domari.

Loki watched as Kalle came into the dungeon and ran over to the Hægison brothers, looking extremely nervous. The look on Kalle's face made Loki decide that conversation was probably one worth eavesdropping on.

"They're calling all einherjar in the city to look for Lady Lilah; she killed Felix." Kalle said, his voice shaking.

Diuri, Domari, and Loki all looked extremely confused; the twins couldn't believe it, and Loki wondered what her reason for doing it was.

"That's impossible… She wouldn't kill him! And even if she tried, she probably would have made sure he didn't _actually_ die."

"He was pronounced dead just a minute ago, and Lilah is on the run. Agata was there when it happened. They're rounding all of us up to start a mass search for Lilah, because she disappeared immediately after."

"The one time you'd wish Frigga hadn't taught her magic to Lilah…" Diuri muttered. "Domari, stay with Loki; Kalle, you and I will join the search assembly." The other two nodded and he left with Kalle.

"Now, why do you think Lilah would murder someone?" Domari turned to Loki, looking slightly pale.

"If I had to guess, I'd say she's gone mad." Loki said, picking up a book and starting to read.

"We both know her too well for that to be the case." Domari said, walking up to the glass. "Why did she kill him?"

"How should I know? I've not spoken to her in months, what with Odin forbidding her from entering this place."

"Loki."

Loki turned the page and sighed; he could feel Domari's gaze fixed on him. He thought for a moment about whether or not he should say something; he knew exactly why Lilah had done what she had done. She committed a crime with the intention of being imprisoned. She knew exactly what she was doing, and he honestly felt annoyed that no one else seemed to know why she had done it.

"Alright, fine; she's coming to visit me."


	13. In sickness and in health

"It is not unusual for Lilah to act on her heart alone." Odin sat stiffly on his throne as he looked down at Sif, Thor, and Frigga. "She has done little wrong, and it should be her decision… When she feels ready to leave, she will leave."

"But she'll _never_ be ready!" Sif objected. "I know Lilah as well as any of you, and she will never leave him unless you drag her from that cell."

"Lilah will come out on her own time… She will grow tired of being so close to Loki but being unable to do anything about his situation." Thor said, looking over to Sif.

"That's what drove her to murdering Felix to begin with!" Sif countered, astounded by how calm they all seemed. "My best friend murdered a man, showing no remorse, to be close to him! There is no way this can end well, whether you keep her in there or up here."

"My king!" Domari came rushing into the hall. "I apologize for the intrusion, but Lilah is looking ill, and Loki asked me to send for a healer."

"Then what are you doing here instead of fetching a healer?" Sif snapped.

"I'm getting to that." Domari said, just as annoyed with Sif as she seemed to be with him. "Loki said she spent most of her time sitting in the corner of her cell watching him, not speaking to him but just looking over him, and then she became sick… Vomiting and looking pale… He's worried about her, and I'm not sure what to do about it. Of course, I've sent for the healers and they're currently taking her to the infirmary, but something about this seems off…"

"Oh, no." Frigga immediately began running out of the hall, clearly in a hurry to get to Lilah before anyone else did.

"Will she be alright?" Loki asked Diuri, his gaze never moving from the spot where Lilah had been sitting before being taken away to be examined by the healers.

"Dunno. Any idea what's wrong with her? What ailment she might be afflicted with?"

"One can become ill as a physical manifestation of grief." Loki replied. "But I doubt that's the case here… It's entirely possible, but unlikely."

"Then, what else might it be?"

"There are some possibilities I would prefer not to entertain, both within my own mind or in the air for public consumption." Loki lied down on his back and levitated a book so he could read it. "What are your thoughts on Lilah's condition?" He asked Diuri.

"You've lain with her." Diuri said.

Loki waited for him to continue, but he said nothing further.

"Are you implying I've given her something?"

"Your seed." Diuri sighed and sat at the edge of the cell. "Of course, it's entirely possible that your first theory, a physical manifestation of the intense agony and grief she feels over your imprisonment, could cause her illness, but I find it more likely that what's making her sick is your bastard child."

"Unlikely, though." Loki said, refusing to look away from his book. "Lilah once was injured in battle, stabbed in the abdomen on her left side."

"Women have two sides, and the women in our family are extremely fertile." Diuri sighed and leaned back against the glass. "What are you going to do, then? If she is with child? The only man who could father a child with her is you, so what then?"

"How should I know?" Loki asked in reply. "Perhaps she'll be put to death for breaking the law, though I doubt it. I suppose, if she is with child, I won't have anything to do with it… Being locked here doesn't help anyone at all, and there's nothing that can be done to change my current situation."

"Do you love her?" Diuri looked up at the ancient stone ceilings with runes carved into them.

"As much as I'd hate to admit it, especially to you… Yes, I do." Loki sighed and let the book fall to the floor with a gentle _thud_. "To me, Lilah is the world and everything in it; now, more than ever before. If ever there was a time that I realized just how deeply sunk into the stupidity that is love with Lilah that I am, it is now."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Oh, enough spewing that mortal crap." Loki snapped. "I do love your sister, and it is _not_ because I'm stuck down here and no one but her gives a rat's ass about me."

"You always denied harboring any affection for her; why now?"

"Why do I choose to admit to myself and those around me that I love Lilah?"

"Yes."

"Lilah didn't deserve any of the things I've done to her… Marrying Sigyn, forcing her to pretend she was happy for me, telling her I did not care for her in the way she cared for me… Lilah has always been there, always, and for once I feel I should own up to the fact that many of the idiotic things I've done in the past were out of fear of my love for her." He sat up and looked at Diuri. "Have you ever been in love, Diuri?"

"Yes, I have." He said. "Love is a scary thing; though, you had no reason to be such an ass and treat my sister as you have. She has proven time and time again that she loves you, and yet you act like you're afraid she'd leave you."

"She could have left me at any time, and I was afraid of getting too involved."

"She could have, and she should have, but she did not. Even now, she has not left you and remains by your side. Her first loyalty is to you, and everyone else comes second; knowing that, you should never have been _afraid_ of loving her." Diuri turned to face Loki. "If anything, after the first thing with the battle, you should have seen that her love was true and taken her as your wife."

"You say that as if I had a choice—"

"You chose Sigyn over Lilah because Sigyn was even more submissive to your will than Lilah was; you made your choices, and you had many opportunities to right your wrongs, and yet you never did."

Loki made to object but fell silent. He let out a sigh and sat there, a feeling of anger welling inside of him; he angry with himself for letting the conversation get that far, and with Diuri for calling him out on his poor handling of he and Lilah's situation. Of course, there was absolutely nothing that could be done at that point except reflect on the past and try not to think too much about it.


	14. Accepting someone's death is never easy

Lilah was locked in her chambers over the next couple of days, and four days after her visit to the infirmary, Malekith and the dark elves invaded Asgard, taking the lives of many einherjar, and Frigga.

The sirens from the prison rang loudly across the city, and Lilah pulled herself out of bed and made her way to the balcony of her bedchambers. When she looked outside, she could see the einherjar mobilizing. The prison sirens made her worry about whether or not Loki had escaped and staged a second invasion of their home, though she doubted that he had had the capacity to do that between the last time he had been roaming freely and that moment.

Lilah made her way out of her chambers, after changing into her armor and grabbing all of her weapons, and saw hundreds of einherjar marching through the palace.

"Kalle!" She called, running to catch up with him. "What's going on?" She asked as she reached his side and he looked over at her.

"Odin has ordered mobilization of all able-bodied troops; there's an invasion going on. You need to stay in your chambers."

"I am as able-bodied as anyone else!" Lilah objected, breaking from the line of einherjar.

"You're pregnant! You could lose your children!"

"That is a risk I have to take." Lilah vaulted over a railing and dropped down onto the floor.

She joined Thor in the prison and helped contain the prisoners, all while making sure Loki was still in his cell; she was surprised to see him sitting in the front corner and reading as if nothing was going on, but she found it amusing.

"You should be in bed." Thor said as he and Lilah stood back to back and kept the prisoners from reaching the door.

"That's not any fun, though." Lilah replied, kicking one prisoner into the wall across the way. "Also, every able-bodied soldier is being mobilized, according to Kalle, and I don't believe that I'm suddenly unfit for duty." She said, switching sides with him.

Once the prisoners were contained, for the most part, Lilah ran back to the palace, just in time to find several dark elves crawling about the palace. She had no problem killing them off from several hiding spots atop pillars and behind doors, firing arrows into their eyes and necks, but she was unable to find either of her parents, or any of her three brothers who were not in prison.

Lilah looked out and saw Mjölnir flying towards a quickly disappearing dark elf ship, and she could hear Thor shouting. She ascended the two floors to Frigga and Odin's chambers and found Odin holding Frigga while Thor stood looking devastated, and Jane looked like she had no idea how to react.

Several hours later, Lilah, the healers, and the remaining einherjar who weren't dead or severely injured, were tasked with counting the bodies and identifying their fallen companions. Lilah had the unfortunate luck of identifying seven einherjar whom she was close with; Diuri, Kalle, her father Hægi, Lor Åkeson, Bjorn Iddunson, Kris Lofrson, and Jürgen Nifrson.

The mass funeral was the worst Lilah had ever attended; there had been quite a few occasions where Lilah had attended funerals, even ones with large numbers of dead being sent off, but that one was the worst she, or almost anyone else in the realm, had ever seen. Afterward, Lilah spent most of her time hiding away in her chambers; when she _wasn't_ in there, she was sitting in the tree by the lake, or wandering around the garden admiring the plants.

"You might catch a cold if you linger outside for too long." Sif said, smiling a little as she came up next to Lilah in the garden.

"I'm surprised you're not in prison, what with helping Thor, Loki, and Jane escape to Svartalfheim." Lilah said, smiling a little as she looked over at her friend. "Do tell me, what motive could you possibly have had for helping him? You know, if they survive, he's going to go to Midgard to be with her."

Sif smiled and looked at the green and black roses on the bush in front of them.

"I've learned quite a bit from a good friend of mine about love… She once told me that loving someone is not easy, and that in love, the person you care for comes before yourself. I suppose one could say I've taken that to heart." Sif sighed. "And I suppose I just couldn't resist helping your brother, given that he is who he is, and also one of my best friends." She added.

"Sounds like a wise friend you have…" Lilah smiled and picked two roses, one green and one black. "If Thor doesn't bring Loki back alive, I will never forgive him." She said, levitating the flowers and letting them spin around in slow circles.

"If Loki betrays Thor, I will kill him." Sif replied.

"He won't."

"How do you know that?"

"He cares for Thor more than he cares for me, and he's never betrayed me." Lilah said, shrugging. "I suppose it's entirely possible I'm wrong, but when it comes to my beloved god of mischief, I am rarely ever wrong."

An einherjar returned to the palace to inform Odin of Loki's _death_ on Svartalfheim; Odin fell into the Odinsleep, and naturally the next person to hear of Loki's _death_ was Lilah, upon Thor's return from Midgard and having saved the universe. Lilah chose, instead, to believe Loki was not actually dead; everyone thought she had finally lost her mind, insisting that Loki couldn't possibly be dead, but what everyone didn't know what that Odin was in the Odinsleep, and that Loki had taken his place.


	15. Dead at my feet, she said

"You're not still holding onto that ridiculous hope that Loki _isn't_ dead, are you?" Sif asked, sitting on a bench with Lilah in the palace gardens.

"All the technology and medical skill in the world couldn't save the twins… And Loki, I'm sure of it, faked his death… What he has planned, I do not know, but he is _not_ dead." Lilah looked at the rosebush with the green and black roses; all but four of the roses had turned black, with two of the four green looking like they were on their last legs, the other two looking quite strong and healthy. "Loki can't be dead, not if that rose, on the left, is still perfectly healthy… If he's truly gone, it will wilt and die, just like the two for our children."

"You really think he's still alive…" Sif sighed. "Look, Thor held him in his arms as he died; Loki is dead, just accept it."

"Until I see him dead at my feet, I will not give in to your bullying!" Lilah shouted. "I've already lost damn near everyone I've ever loved! Diuri, my father, my birth mother, Frigga, Kalle, the others, my poor, unborn children who had done absolutely nothing wrong… I will not give up on Loki too, if he is out there. Dead at my feet, then I will believe it."

Sif felt a mixture of anger and pity when it came to Lilah; Lilah was so pig-headed that she refused to accept that Loki was dead, and Sif felt sorry that Lilah had lost herself and was unable to accept the truth. She was angry when Lilah insisted that she was happy Loki was dead, because though she detested him, she did not wish him dead. She simply wished him to have no one left to lean on, but Lilah was always there, waiting loyally for him. She couldn't stand it, the way Lilah could stay so attached to Loki, even when he was dead. It had also occurred to Sif that Lilah's stubbornness might be born out of desperate need, to keep herself from slipping into insanity. Sif didn't like that possibility, so she forgot it.

Meanwhile, Loki was quite content to pretend he was dead, sitting on the throne of Asgard and disguised as Odin. It was nice, people respected him. The land was faring better under his rule as _Odin_ than it was under the actual Odin, his father. Watching Odin fall into the Odinsleep out of grief, finding out about his _death_, had caused a slight change of heart in Loki; he realized Odin still cared for him, after all he had done, and he didn't try to stop himself from thinking of Odin as his father.

Loki had been keeping close tabs on Lilah, assigning Domari to keep watch over her. Domari had no knowledge of Loki's trick, but he suspected something was off with Odin if he was more than happy to let Thor return to Midgard, and release Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, and Heimdall without any punishment for their crimes. It seemed odd to all of them, but they blew it off. Lilah, however, did not take it lightly. She had been raised in the House of Odin, and she knew that Odin was rarely, if ever, so kind as to let people off lightly. Loki, on the other hand, would do so if it benefited him.

Loki sat upon the throne in the Hall of Asgard, having sent the einherjar away for the night; he let his illusion fade so he was sitting there as himself, grinning as he looked over the dimly lit golden hall.

"It's all mine…" He said, chuckling and admiring the golden banisters flapping gently in the evening breeze that flowed through the open doors at the end of the hall. "And no one even knows it." Loki laughed for a short while before falling silent; he felt someone else in the room, and he looked to his right.

Where Frigga had once often stood, gazing up at Odin, Lilah stood. Lilah, however, had no look of admiration in her eyes, no trace of happiness or relief; Loki could practically feel her bitterness, her anger, from up on the throne.

"My, my… Look at you. So smug and contented upon your ill-gotten throne. Do tell me, is it everything you've hoped for? Is it everything you've ever wanted?" Lilah said, her voice dark and dripping with resentment.

"Are you angry with me for taking initiative? And ill-gotten, this throne is not." Loki watched as she made her way up the steps towards him. "What are you going to do, yell at me?" He asked sarcastically.

"Loki, my love, there are no words in any language from any of the nine realms that could begin to express the plethora of emotions I'm currently drowning in."

"One would think you're quite angry with me."

"Oh, I am. Not because you've deceived everyone, but because you chose not to reveal yourself to me. The only reason you're sitting there now as you really are is because you thought no one was around; I've been standing there for several hours, watching you, and waiting to see if you'd be stupid enough to let your guard down. You didn't have enough to recast that illusion of yours, and you don't see the point in hiding from me now."

Loki looked her up and down, then bit his lip.

"You know, I'm rather hurt you didn't send word to me that you had been pregnant… After all, I thought you loved me."

"And love you, I do, but I saw no point in telling you about that if you weren't going to be in a position to be a father." Their eyes met and Loki felt a chill up his spine. "You can't be a father from behind a glass wall for all of eternity, and I would not have subjected my children to that."

"And what of them now? You killed them."

"Thor told me you died, my body could not handle the stress, and they did not survive. I hardly think it's _my_ fault."

"Are you saying it's _my_ fault?"

"Actually, yes. Yes, I am!" Loki could feel Lilah's gaze looking through him. It made him extremely uncomfortable. "If you hadn't faked your death, I wouldn't have lost my mind, or the children, and all might have been well."

"But if I hadn't, your dear friends Lady Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, our brother… They'd all be in prison, or executed; and how would you feel then? I'd still be in that damn dungeon."

"It would be better than this!" Lilah said, turning around and disappearing into thin air.

Loki sat there and thought on what had just happened; he had, as he saw it, more than likely alienated his only ally. He immediately began coming up with ideas on how to win her back, but he was scared shitless by the idea that she was, perhaps, finally finished with him. She wouldn't tell anyone that he was alive and well and sitting on the throne, but she was definitely not going to receive him kindly if he visited her in her chambers. If Lilah was no longer on his side, he would have to rearrange his plans and spend even more time in his disguise while he figured out how achieve his ends.


	16. Well, that was easy

Loki found Lilah in his former chambers, which she had taken over, and watched as she stood on the balcony, watching the night sky; he had maneuvered around the castle in the form of Odin, but as soon as the door had shut behind him in the main chambers, he went back to being himself.

"Are you going to stay with me tonight?" Lilah asked, hearing Loki's footsteps on the marble floor.

"If you wish me to, then I shall." He stood next to her and watched her as she continued to look up at the sky, not once breaking to look over at him. "Do you hate me?"

"I could never hate you."

"You won't even spare me glance."

"I know what you look like."

Loki grinned and snickered; when Lilah was upset, she tended to be more snappy and sarcastic. Though he didn't like her being upset, he found her change in mannerisms to be quite entertaining. She became more like him.

"Do you love me?"

"There are many things I am capable of, Loki; falling out of love with you is not one of those things." Lilah sighed and looked over at him. "I suppose you'd like me to go to bed with you and pretend none of this ever happened, that all is truly as it should be."

"Considering I declared my union with Sigyn to be dissolved before the announcement of my _death_ came out, I think I've done a pretty good job of setting things up to be as they should have been before. And I'm here with you."

"Well, except, you know, the part where you're _supposed_ to be _dead_."

"… I really don't see what all the fuss is about."

"Do you ever?"

She turned and went back into the chambers, walking to the bed and letting herself collapse gracefully onto it. She caught Loki's eye and began to tease him by slowly sliding her robes off.

"Is this what we're doing now?" He asked, slightly annoyed; not two minutes earlier, she'd acted as if she was completely unenthused by, and against, the idea of having make up sex. "You know, you've become quite troublesome and confusing in the last few years, and I'm not entirely sure what to make of your behavior."

"Don't think about it, Dear." She grinned. "Just let it happen."

"A minute ago you hated me and wouldn't even look at me. What the hell is going on with you?"

Lilah shushed him and pat the space next to her.

"My darling Loki… My king deserves a glorious evening to celebrate his return to me, and I would be honored if he'd oblige us both and come to bed with me." She slowly slid her hand down towards her pelvis, as her clothes disappeared entirely. "I've done the easy part, Loki… Now, take me."

Loki looked over her naked body, feeling a pang of guilt but also highly aroused as she began to tempt him by touching herself. It had been quite a while since she had put any effort into seducing him. The only reason he felt guilty was that, outside of her chambers, he could not be himself, and he wasn't able to marry her since he was supposed to be dead. He couldn't make her the queen he had always saw her being.

"I'll have you for my own, Lady Lilah, but only if you…" Loki paused and a small, wicked grin appeared. "_Kneel_."


End file.
